Council asks region to phase in development charge changes

WaterlooChronicle.ca
Sept. 14, 2016
By Dylan DaCosta

Waterloo city council agreed unanimously to ask the Region of Waterloo to phase in the updated development charges bylaw, fearing it will be a drag on new construction in the city.

Council agreed to send a joint message ahead of the region’s public input session on the changes, registering some of its concerns over the potential impact.

On Dec. 3, 2015, the province passed Bill 73 that allowed changes to how development charges are assessed.

It would allow the region to factor in infrastructure charges for transit projects, like the new LRT being built, into any potential assessment. That would see the cost of building in the city, whether it was residential, commercial or industrial, to increase.

Single detached homes in the city could see a $30,000 increase, while office buildings could cost $0.72 more per square foot.

Because the updated bylaw will only last two years before it is revisited, staff told council it was unlikely the region would grant them a deferral of the entire bylaw.

They instead suggested council try to minimize the impact.

“It certainly impacts competitiveness, no question about that,” said Justin McFadden, the city’s executive director of economic development. “It has tremendous impact when you’re comparing sites just one kilometre away.”

The cores of Kitchener and Cambridge are currently exempt from these increases, but the City of Waterloo’s stance on the topic included asking the region to phase these new charges equitably across all core areas of the region regardless of whether an exemption is currently in place.

Waterloo council also agreed to ask the region to partially share the costs with the townships, as they felt all members of the region would benefit from the investments.

A final point, and the one that had the most discussion among council, was to ask the Region of Waterloo to consider grandfathering projects that are already in the approval process from any coming changes.

Council talked at length about the final point, trying to reach a clear agreement on the exact wording of that statement.

“My concern is with having as strong a recommendation as possible, because we have to stand up for the citizens of Waterloo,” said Coun. Melissa Durrell. “There is no way the people at the region can misunderstand how we feel about this.”

Coun. Dianne Freeman said she would be wary of “poking the bear” too much.

“I would be cautious about negotiating with ourselves ahead of the ultimate conversation with the region,” said Coun. Jeff Henry, who wanted to see council take a strong, united stance.

Council eventually agreed on a joint proposal, hoping to keep projects well into the application process from forking out additional costs that they had not originally planned for.

Despite that, staff said it’s still likely dozens of projects will be impacted by the new charges, some of which would probably choose not to proceed because of the changes.

Regardless, Coun. Mark Whaley was happy to have a joint statement ahead of the region’s public input session.

“Thank you all,” he said, “we have a team Waterloo solution to this.”